Highlights
- •In prostate cancer, the lower education level is associated with worse survival.
- •The primary treatment modality and education level were analysed in 9255 men.
- •Cancer stage, the patient's age and comorbidity burden were included in analysis.
- •Men with a higher education level are treated with more radical intention.
- •Less curatively aimed therapy is likely to influence worse cancer survival.
Abstract
Background
In prostate cancer (PCa), lower education level is associated with less screening,
more advanced stage at diagnosis and worse survival. The aim of this study was to
estimate the association between education level and treatment modality and subsequently
survival.
Methods
The 9255 men diagnosed with PCa in the Finnish Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate
Cancer were included. Cancer stage, comorbidity, education level and primary treatment
modality were extracted from the patient records, the Finnish Cancer Registry, Statistics
Finland and the National Institute of Health and Welfare, and these covariates were
used in logistic regression (treatment selection) and Cox regression (survival analysis).
Results
In high-risk cancers, men with tertiary education were more likely to be treated with
radical prostatectomy (odds ratio [OR] = 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.27–2.44)
than men with primary education. Men with secondary (OR = 0.57; 95% CI = 0.38–0.84)
or tertiary (OR = 0.42; 95% CI = 0.29–0.60) education were managed less frequently
with mere hormonal therapy. In locally advanced cases, tertiary education was associated
with more curatively aimed therapies and less hormonal therapy (OR for radical prostatectomy
= 2.34; 95% CI = 1.49–3.66; OR for radiotherapy = 1.42; 95% CI = 1.09–1.85; OR for
hormonal therapy = 0.45; 95% CI = 0.33–0.60). The hazard ratio for PCa death was lower
in men with secondary (0.81; 95% CI = 0.69–0.95) and tertiary (0.75; 95% CI = 0.65–0.87)
education than in the patients with primary education.
Conclusions
When controlled for the cancer risk group, comorbidity and patient's age, low education
level is independently associated with less curatively aimed treatment in men with
high-risk or locally advanced PCa and subsequently worse prognosis.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 28, 2020
Accepted:
February 19,
2020
Received in revised form:
January 22,
2020
Received:
October 10,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
